SM
Sports Mole words bigger AMP 2
Man Utd vs. Rangers: 19 hrs 49 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews

Lee Westwood out to equal record 11th Ryder Cup appearance

:Headline: Lee Westwood out to equal record 11th Ryder Cup appearance: ID:431219: from db_amp
The 47-year-old occupied one of the automatic places in the team before the golf was stopped due to Covid-19.
Lee Westwood out to equal record 11th Ryder Cup appearance

Lee Westwood believes the European Ryder Cup team is still in its "infancy" as he resumes his bid to qualify for a record-equalling 11th appearance in the event.

Westwood's victory in last year's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship helped him occupy one of the automatic places in the team before the qualifying race was suspended as golf shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the Ryder Cup then delayed until September 2021, the race was further postponed until January 1 and the European Points List resumes this week in Abu Dhabi.

However, all points earned between January 1 and May 9 will be multiplied by 1.5 and those earned from May 10 until the end of qualifying at the BMW PGA Championship on September 12 will be doubled.

The top four players from the European Points List and the five leading players from the World Points List will qualify automatically, with Europe captain Padraig Harrington then announcing his three wild cards for the contest at Whistling Straits.

"I've not had a look at the make-up of the team," said European number one Westwood, who would equal the record of Sir Nick Faldo if he makes the team for the 11th time.

"There's not really any point, it's still in its infancy when you look at how weighted the points system is. I know I'm in the team at the moment, I haven't really looked at who is filling the other spots.

England's Lee Westwood on the 13th during day four of he Open Championship 2019 at Royal Portrush (Richard Sellers/PA)

"The usual suspects, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, people like that will be filling spots. It's always the same, you get a few people there you don't expect, a few veterans and experienced players.

"I'm sure come the final event there will be a good balance to the European team as there always is. That's what the captain's picks are there for, to bring experience if you need it and if you have a lot of that you can use picks for people that maybe haven't played before."

The changes to the points system were approved late last year and Westwood, who is favourite to succeed Harrington as captain for the 2023 contest in Italy, added: "It makes complete sense that you have players there that are on form.

"Someone who was playing well two years ago isn't necessarily playing well now. You want your strongest and best team, a team on form, when you play the Americans in the Ryder Cup.

"We're playing for a lot of points these first few weeks but as the year goes on, they double. So you need to play consistently well through the year."

To that end, Westwood has a busy start to the year with the 47-year-old set to play all three of the European Tour's events in the Middle East and then six tournaments in seven weeks in the United States, up to and including the Masters.

"Being top 50 in the world I'd planned to play a good number of events over there," Westwood added. "With travel as unpredictable as it is and things going the way they are I wanted to get over to America and base myself over there for a couple of months.

"It makes sense not to try and get on airplanes too much and travel from one country to another. If you can base yourself in one spot, that makes complete sense."

amp_article__431219 : Database Data restored...  : 
last updated article - 2021-01-19 13:32:08:
html db last update - 2021-01-19 13:32:08 :

ex - 7200 : read : read cache amp html

Click here for more stories about Lee Westwood

Share this article now:
Recommended Next on SM
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool21155150203050
2Arsenal22128243212244
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest22135433221144
4Chelsea22117444271740
5Manchester CityMan City22115644291538
6Newcastle UnitedNewcastle22115638261238
7Bournemouth22107536261037
8Aston Villa2210663334-136
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2281043530534
10Fulham228953430433
11Brentford2284104039128
12Crystal Palace226972528-327
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd2275102732-526
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham2275102743-1626
15Tottenham HotspurSpurs22731245351024
16Everton214891828-1020
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2244143251-1916
18Ipswich TownIpswich2237122043-2316
19Leicester CityLeicester2235142348-2514
20Southampton2213181550-356
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .